About Kelowna
Travelers from around the world stay in Kelowna hotels to ski, golf, hike, go on wine tours, and visit the many other attractions in Kelowna and the surrounding area. Travel over the bridge to the Land of Ogopogo that began as a railway community and survived fire in 2003. There is a lot to learn about Kelowna’s history and agricultural heritage at its museums.
About Kelowna
Kelowna was first settled by missionaries in 1859 and officially incorporated in 1905. Its name is the Indian term for ‘Grizzly Bear’. Kelowna had approximately 116,479 residents in 2007 according to BC Stats, and it is the transportation, business and service hub of the Okanagan Valley. The city is situated on Okanagan Lake that runs north to south for approximately 110 kilometres through the Okanagan Valley. Kelowna is home to the late Premier of British Columbia, W.A.C. Bennett and is the birth place of his son, William R. Bennett, who also served as Premier of BC. Kelowna International Airport is the 10th busiest airport in Canada and offers daily direct flights to and from Vancouver, Calgary, Seattle and Toronto. Tourism is an important source of revenue for the Kelowna economy. Below are facts about the City of Kelowna released in an October 2008 demographic profile by the Economic Development Commission of the Regional District of Central Okanagan (RDCO):
- 15% of the population between ages of 45 to 54
- persons 45 to 54 years of age are fastest growing population segment
- over 95% of residents speak English most often at home
- over 37% of residents have college or university degree
- median household income is $48,859
- 27% of occupations in sales and service
- residential real property tax rates about $6.3896 per $1,000 of Assessed Property
According to the 2001 Statistics Canada BC Agricultural Profile, Kelowna has approximately 9,185 hectares of farmland on which food such as fruits, berries, nuts, and livestock is produced. Local growers of fruits, berries, nuts, and livestock supply Kelowna restaurants with a variety of food and beverage products.
The Legend of Ogopogo
Ogopogo has a 20 to 50 foot long serpent-like body and is believed to live in Lake Okanagan. Interior Salish Native people first reported seeing Ogopogo over 100 years ago. It has often been described as dark blue, black or brown with a lighter underside. Ogopogo sightings have been reported as recently as 2007 and the following three books have been written about his legend:
- In Search of Ogopogo: Sacred Creature of the Okanagan, by Arlene Gaal
- Ogopogo: The True Story of the Okanagan Lake Million Dollar Monster, by Arlene Gaal
- The Okanagan Mystery, by Mary Moon
Ogopogo is an important part of Kelowna’s culture. The Kelowna Rockets Western Hockey League (WHL) team has Ogopogo in its logo and there is a statue of Ogopogo in Kelowna’s City Park. Kelowna-based Ogopogo Media’s name is derived from the legend of Ogopogo.
The Okanagan Lake Bridge
The Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge was built across Lake Okanagan in July 1958. It connected Kelowna with Westbank, Penticton and other southern Okanagan communities; it was an important link to the Coquihalla Highway that winds through the Rocky Mountains to Vancouver. Twelve pontoons supported by anchors embedded 25 feet into the lake bottom kept the bridge afloat. A 70-ton anchor sits at the intersection of Harvey and Ellis in Kelowna for travelers to view. Below are key facts about the old Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge:
- 7/8 of a mile in length from shore to shore
- three traffic lanes
- 265 feet long raise-able section to provide 60 feet vertical clearance
- supported by ten 200 foot pontoons and two 50 foot pontoons
- typical pontoon 50 feet wide and 15 feet in depth
- each pontoon submerged about 8 feet under normal conditions
- pontoons connected together as a continuous unit, 2100 feet long
- one anchor on each side of pontoon
The five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge opened in June 2008 and replaced the Okanagan Lake pontoon bridge. It is named after a resident of Kelowna who served as the Premier of BC. The William R. Bennett Bridge was built to relieve traffic congestion on Highway 97 which is a major highway cutting right through Kelowna.
The Okanagan Mountain Park Fires
Dry weather and a lightning strike near Rattlesnake Island on Lake Okanagan caused Okanagan Mountain Park to catch fire. The fires caused the following damage to areas south of Kelowna according to news reports:
- 20,000 hectares of forest and parkland burned
- 250 homes destroyed
- 30,000 residents required to flee homes at one point
The Myra Canyon Trestles section of the Kettle Valley Steam Railway system was also destroyed. The canyon’s 12 kilometres of hiking and biking trails have been restored and were re-opened to Kelowna residents and travelers in June 2008. Black charred trees remain in some areas and sections of what was once forest are now residential developments that house Kelowna residents. There is a Myra Canyon Trestles Restoration Society dedicated to preserving the Myra Canyon Trestles.
The Kettle Valley Steam Railway
The Kettle Valley Steam Railway (KVSR) was built from 1910-1915 to preserve Canadian sovereignty over the BC’s Southern Interior in response to the mining boom of the late 19th Century. The KVSR became an important route for transporting silver, fruits and people from the Kootenays to the west coast. The Kettle Valley Steam Railway Society near Kelowna operates the only remaining ten mile section of the railway. Travelers to Kelowna may make a reservation to take a 90-minute open-air passenger car ride on the restored 1912 steam locomotive the ‘3716’. The ‘3716’ travels from the Prairie Valley Station to the Trout Creek Trestle Bridge and back.
Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR)
The BC Agricultural Land Commission (ALC) protects 9,140 hectares of Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) land in Kelowna according to a City of Kelowna Agriculture in Brief. This ALC was created in 1973 in response to increasing pressure to use BC’s agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. In January 1, 2001 it reported that Kelowna's ALR land represented about 43% of land area in the City of Kelowna. The Kelowna climate allows about 569 farms to produce food such as the following according to the most recent Statistics Canada Census of Agriculture: livestock, with hens and chickens the most commonly raised; and apples, which represent about 75% of fruits, nuts, and berries grown. Development of Kelowna ALR land for non-agricultural purposes remains an issue as the City of Kelowna continues to grow.
Four Kelowna Museums
View photographs of Kelowna during the late 1800s at the Kelowna Public Archives in the Okanagan Heritage Museum on your next visit. Displays and winemaking artifacts at the BC Wine Museum will introduce you to the Okanagan’s development as a winemaking region. You will learn about fruit packing, processing, preserving, and picking at the BC Orchard Industry Museum. The Okanagan Military Museum has artifacts from the Boer War, World War I, World War II, and more recent military operations. Admission to each one of the museums is by donation.
The BC Wine and BC Orchard Industry museums are located in the Laurel Packinghouse that is located in Kelowna’s cultural district. The packinghouse was built in 1918 and is the oldest and largest standing packinghouse in British Columbia. A packinghouse is a facility where fruit is received and processed prior to distribution to market.
